Michael “Mik” Dempsey started a band called The Hyrax with Mike Musselman ’08. The band plays original music written by Mik and Mike with lyrics by Mik. Members of the five-piece band include Maxwell Damske ’12, Alex Damske ’14 and Tommy Murray. In February, The Hyrax released a full-length album and launched a website, thehyrax.com. They’ll open for Rachel Barton Pine with Earthen Grave at North Central College on April 29.

Lynda Buric Elliott published “Children’s Songs of the Southwest” in 2010. Her 25 original compositions were written for preschool-aged children at Pinnacle Presbyterian Day School in Scottsdale, AZ, where she is a musician-educator. “The songs are intended to be fun and educational, giving information in a musical way about the Southwest and the people and animals that live there. The songs also allow children to explore the range of their voices and teach a variety of music concepts,” she says. Lynda may be reached at desert.home@cox.net.

Sarah Levine is a clinical research associate at ICON Clinical Research in Chicago. She works in pharmaceutical drug development and travels to sites involved in clinical research. She ensures the collection of quality data in clinical trials as well as the safety of patients enrolled in the trials. She may be reached at sjlevine@yahoo.com.

Rae Ann Steinhebel Hoehn has been teaching art in the Fox Valley area of suburban Chicago since 1970 and is now using the Web to expand her classroom. She has developed a series of lessons and a blog for aspiring artists who want to learn from home. Among her students are home-schooled children and their parents. “This is a great thing because I can have a homeschool class from Maine to Texas or Iowa,” she says. “Or I can teach those who cannot get to my classes because of work schedules even if we each live in the Fox Valley area.

Brandon Townsend is the full-time assistant baseball coach at Concordia University Chicago in Forest Park, IL. He’ll work with the pitching staff and help with recruiting. His coaching career began in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) with one-year stints as pitching coach at North Park University, and varsity pitching coach, head JV coach and recruiting coordinator at North Central College. He was then with Central College in Pella, IA, for three seasons where he served as the team’s pitching coach.

Don Engelsman is executive director of the Life Care senior living community in Elmhurst, IL. With more than a decade of senior living experience, he’s responsible for managing the day-to-day operations at the facility, scheduled to open in 2011. Prior to joining the center, Engelsman spent more than 13 years with Providence Life Services where he held multiple positions, including vice president of marketing for new developments, vice president of risk management and general manager of the Victorian Village campus.

Lindsey Theis joined WPDE NewsChannel 15 in Myrtle Beach, SC, as a reporter. She comes from CNN in Atlanta, where she was a video journalist for CNN, HLN and CNN International Networks. She’s also worked as a media producer at CNN Radio in Atlanta, a producer at WGN Radio in Chicago, and a reporter/producer at Naperville Community Television.

Robert “Bob” Leslie was elected to a third term as District 3 magistrate in Oldham County, Kentucky. He’s president of Delta Mobile Testing Inc., serves as treasurer for the Tri-County Community Action Agency and is a member of the Oldham County Law Enforcement Council. He lives in La Grange, KY, and may be reached at rleslie@oldhamcounty.net.

Armed with his degree from The John Marshall Law School, Michael O’Brien ’05 is practicing law in a rather unique place: Iraq. He was deployed in November 2010 to Victory Base Complex north of Baghdad and is working as an advisor to an aspect of a Special Forces unit. O’Brien enlisted in the military after completing his law degree in 2008 and is a captain in the Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps. “The JAG Corps starts all of us as prosecutors for our first assignment,” he says.

Ginny Klomps Wallace is a project manager with natural resources communications firm D.J. Case and Associates based in Mishawaka, IN. As a conservation educator and interpretation expert, she has worked on public involvement for programs like reintroduction of the Mexican wolf and North American waterfowl management. She previously spent 27 years with the Missouri Department of Conservation. She may be reached at ginny.k.wallace@gmail.com.